In the packaging of heavy, bulky products, particularly home appliances having easily damaged exterior walls, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, and the like, it is a common procedure to provide support posts at and engaged with the vertical corners of the appliance, and may extend to the full height thereof. A protective carton or box is also normally provided to enclose the appliance and corner engaged support posts. Such protective boxes can comprise as little as a wrap of heavy duty plastic or other appropriate material, or a complete corrugated cardboard carton, with the main purposes being to retain or assist in retaining the positioned support posts, and to protect the exterior of the appliance against surface scratches and possible exposure to the elements.
Support posts of the type herein involved are usually constructed of convolutely wound paperboard tubes which are transversely formed to the desire post configuration. Thus formed, the support posts provide both stacking strength where necessary and lateral strength for the protecting and cushioning of the packaged product. Such protection against lateral or transverse forces is particularly desirable in light of the forces normally applied to the package during the handling and transport thereof, and the necessity of accommodating such forces without affecting the vertical compressive strength of the posts which, preferably, is sufficient to accommodate stacked products.
Two forms of known support or corner posts will be seen in the following U.S. patents, commonly assigned with the present invention:
______________________________________ Hughes 5,267,651 Ortleib 5,593,039 ______________________________________
In both of these patents, the disclosed support posts, to maintain the strength thereof, rely on a controlled collapsing of the cushioning bead to form multiple layers between and in addition to the outer walls. In Ortleib, provision is made for the accommodation of protrusions, such as a handle, on the appliance. However, in Ortleib, as the major line of force will be directed along the space between the product and the side of the enclosing box, there is a tendency for pressure on the front of the box to shift the product away from the side of the box or wrap and reduce the ability of the front bead to withstand pressure.